Hands free automotive service system

ABSTRACT

A voice control system for an automotive service system includes a microphone, through which a technician can communicate voice commands to an item of automotive service equipment within the automotive service system, a speech processor module for converting the voice commands into digital instructions which can be processed by a system controller and for converting data from the system controller into synthesized voice audio, and a speaker for communicating the synthesized voice audio to the technician. The system of the present invention may also include a pair of goggles incorporating a heads-up display which displays the data from the system controller by virtual image in the technician&#39;s forward field of vision without blocking his general forward field of view.

This application is a continuation of application Ser. No. 08/920,027,now U.S. Pat. No. 6,085,428 filed Aug. 26, 1997, which is a continuationof application Ser. No. 08/655,281 filed May 15, 1996, now abandoned,which is a continuation of application Ser. No. 08/131,641 filed Oct. 5,1993, now abandoned.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIONS

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a system for operating automotiveservice equipment and, in particular, to an apparatus and method foroperating such a system through voice commands, thus leaving theautomotive service technician's hands free to effect adjustments on thevehicle.

2. Description of Related Art

Existing automotive service equipment, such as vehicle wheel alignersand balancers, often include computers to process data input by thetechnician or generated by sensors and display the results andadditional information and instructions through video monitors. Sincethis equipment incorporates a considerable amount of computerized dataprocessing, the automotive service technician is typically required tooperate the equipment by means of a keyboard while viewing the monitor,which is usually mounted on a main console. The technician is thereforeoften required to direct much of his attention to the console and awayfrom the vehicle being serviced.

The introduction of a hand held remote control devices has reduced theneed to use the keyboard as often, but still requires the technician touse his hands and direct his attention to a main console in order tooperate the equipment. While remote displays have further reduced thisrequirement by displaying some of the information generated by thecomputer, they too must be hand carried and hand manipulated.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention disposes of the need for the technician toapproach a main console to enter data through a keyboard and observe acentral video monitor during operation of the automotive serviceequipment. It likewise requires no hand-held devices such as remotedisplays or controls. The technician may therefore service the vehiclemore quickly and efficiently since his hands are free to work on thevehicle without the need to punch a keyboard or monitor a video consoleto operate the equipment.

The system of the present invention enables the technician to operatethe automotive service equipment through voice commands, and to receivedata and instructions from the equipment through pre-recorded orsynthesized voice audio. The system comprises a microphone, throughwhich the technician can communicate the voice commands to theautomotive service equipment, a speech processor module for convertingthe voice commands into digital instructions which can be processed by acentral processing unit (“CPU”) and for converting data from the CPUinto pre-recorded or synthesized voice audio, and a speaker forcommunicating the pre-recorded or synthesized voice audio to thetechnician. The microphone and speaker are preferably housed in an audioheadset which is worn by the technician. In addition, the headset ispreferably connected to a radio frequency transceiver worn on thetechnician's belt which transmits and receives information to and from acorresponding transceiver connected to the speech processor module. Forthose that still wish to have a visual display of the data andinstructions generated by the CPU, the system of the present inventionmay also include a pair of goggles incorporating a heads-up displaywhich displays the information by virtual image in the technician'sforward field of vision without blocking his general forward field ofview.

The system of the present invention can be used to control any type ofautomotive service equipment that includes or is controlled by a CPU, orany similar computer control means, such as wheel aligners, wheelbalancers and vehicle lifts and jacks, or any combination of suchequipment.

These and other objects and advantages of the present invention will bemade apparent from the following detailed description, with reference tothe accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a representation of an automotive service technician outfittedwith several components of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the goggles component of the invention;

FIG. 3 is a partial perspective view of the goggles depicted in FIG. 2and a representation of the relative location of the apparent or virtualimage generated by the goggles; and

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of an automotive service system including thecontrol system of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The system of the present invention comprises several components whichenable an automotive service technician to operate automotive serviceequipment through voice commands, and to receive data and instructionsfrom the equipment through pre-recorded or synthesized voice audiomessages. The system can be used in combination with any item ofautomotive service equipment which comprises or is otherwise controlledby a central processing unit (“CPU”), or any similar computer controlmeans, and can be used to control multiple items of automotive serviceequipment.

Referring to FIG. 1, the automotive service equipment control system ofthe present invention is shown to comprise a microphone 10, throughwhich the technician can communicate voice commands to a central console(not shown), and a speaker 12, through which data and instructions inthe form of pre-recorded or synthesized voice audio are communicatedfrom the console to the technician. Microphone 10 and speaker 12 arepreferably mounted in a headset 14, such as the “DCNC” headset availablefrom the David Clark Company of Worchester, Mass., which can be worn bythe technician to thereby free up his hands so that he can makeadjustments to the vehicle while operating the automotive serviceequipment. However, either microphone 10 or speaker 12, or both, may bemounted to other components, such as the console. The system alsoincludes a transceiver 16 for transmitting and receiving communicationsbetween headset 14 and the console. While transceiver 16 can beconnected to the console by wire, it preferably is a wirelesstransmission means, such as a radio frequency transceiver of the typegenerally known in the art, which communicates with a correspondingtransceiver 16 a located in the console (FIG. 4). In this fashion,transceiver 16 can be worn on the belt so that the technician is free tomove about the vehicle being serviced.

The control system of the present invention also preferably includes aportable video display means, such as heads-up display goggles 20, whichmay display data and information received from the console via awireless receiver 22, such as a radio frequency receiver, worn on thetechnician's belt. Receiver 22 communicates with a correspondingtransmitter 22 a located in the console (FIG. 4). Heads-up displaygoggles 20 may comprise an LED or an LCD display, but a suitableembodiment of goggles 20 is the “Virtual Vision Sport” portabletelevision available from Virtual Vision, Inc. of Redmond Wash.Referring to FIGS. 2 and 3, heads-up display goggles 20 contain thecomponents of a video display 24 on a brow bar 26, and a reflective lens28 mounted to a transparent goggle lens 30. The image generated by videodisplay 24 is reflected off of lens 28 and appears as a virtual imageprojection 32 approximately five feet wide at a distance of eight tofifteen feet in front of the wearer. Outfitted with goggles 20, thetechnician is able to simultaneously view both the vehicle and theinformation and data received from the console. Thus, the technician isallowed to, for example, view information regarding a particularadjustment that needs to be made while at the same time perform theadjustment.

Referring to FIG. 4, the control system of the present invention isshown combined with one possible configuration of an automotive servicesystem. The automotive service system comprises several operationalcomponents, including a vehicle wheel aligner 34, which, as describedmore fully in U.S. Pat. No. 4,761,749 issued to Titsworth et al.,includes four wheel mountable alignment heads 36 containing sensors forgenerating signals indicative of the orientation of each wheel. Theautomotive service system also comprises a vehicle lift or rack 38,which may include one or more jacks 40, and a wheel balancer 42. Aligner34, rack 38 and balancer 42 communicate with the console, indicatedgenerally by reference number 44, through appropriate interfaces 46, 48and 50, respectively, which may be, for example, either electricalwires, wireless radio or infrared transceivers, or fiber optics.

Console 44 comprises a system bus 52 which is powered by a power supply54. Power supply 54 also provides power for a number of functionalmodules, including a number of communications modules 56, each of whichis disposed between system bus 52 and an item of automotive serviceequipment and operates to transmit data between the automotive serviceequipment and system bus 52, as described in applicant's co-pending U.S.patent application Ser. No. 07/817,250. A speech processor module 58 isdisposed between system bus 52 and headset 14 and operates to providedata to the system bus in response to voice commands received bymicrophone 10 and to provide pre-recorded or synthesized voice audio tospeaker 12 in response to data carried on system bus 52, as will bedescribed. A video control module 60, which may include a video graphicsarray (“VGA”) card such as the “VG 7700” card available from DFI, Inc.of Sacramento, Calif., is disposed between system bus 52 and heads-updisplay goggles 20 and operates to drive video display 24 so that dataon system bus 52 may be displayed visually by goggles 20. A printercontrol module 62 is disposed between a digital input/output means 64,which in turn is coupled to system bus 52, and a printer 66 forproviding data from system bus 52 in printed form. Each of thefunctional modules includes a controller. For example, each ofcommunications modules 56 includes a microprocessor such as the Siemans80C535 microprocessor.

A main CPU 68 is also connected to system bus 52 and provides overallcontrol for the automotive service system by performing calculations andmanaging tasks. CPU 68 comprises a controller, such as the Intel 80386microprocessor. Although not necessary to the operation of the presentinvention, console 44 may also include a keyboard 70 and a disk drive 72through which vehicle specifications, instructions or the like may becommunicated to CPU 68. In addition, the system may communicate withexternal systems through an interface 74.

Speech processor module 58 preferably includes a voice command andspeech processing card, such as the “Voice Master” Model PCKS-PO-3 10card available from Covox inc. of Eugene, Oreg., which may be pluggeddirectly into system bus 52. The speech processing card is provided withsoftware to control the operation of the card and guide and operatorthrough the initial steps required to create a database of digitalsignals and corresponding digital instructions required to operate thecomponents of the automotive service system. In the voice recognitionmode, the speech processing card coverts the analog signals receivedfrom microphone 10 through transceivers 16 and 16 a into digitalsignals, which are then processed by a digital processor, such as theMotorola DSP 56002. The digital processor refines the digital signalsand compares them to the digital signals in the database of digitalinstructions. When a match between the digital signals is found, CPU 68transmits the corresponding digital instruction to the appropriatecomponent of the automotive service system. In the voice generationmode, the speech processing card can generate audio signals by playingback pre-recorded voice messages stored in memory through, for example,a compact disk player device (not shown). In an alternate embodiment,the speech processing card can be adapted to convert the digital datareceived from CPU 68 on system bus 52 into synthesized voice audiosignals, which are then transmitted via transceivers 16 a and 16 tospeaker 12. In yet another embodiment, speech process or module 58 maycomprise a separate sound output means, such as the “Speech Thing” ModelSTPC-PO-300, also available from Covox inc., for converting digital datareceived from CPU 68 into synthesized voice audio signals. In thismanner, voice commands from the technician can be used to operate theautomotive service system and information and data generated by thesystem can be presented to the technician through speaker 12.

Accordingly, in operation of one embodiment of the present invention,the voice audio presented to the technician can effectively guide thetechnician in making adjustments to a vehicle component withoutrequiring the technician to divert his attention to the console forpresentation of visual information. For example, in operation of avehicle wheel aligner, alignment values calculated from the measurementsobtained from the sensors are compared to stored vehicle specifications,in a manner known to those skilled in the art. According to the presentinvention, the wheel aligner communicates the differences between thecalculated and stored values to the technician via an appropriate voiceaudio message, such as a message indicating the magnitude and directionby which an alignment value is out of specification. By providing suchvoice audio messages, the wheel aligner effectively guides thetechnician in making any necessary adjustments to the vehicle in orderto bring the alignment value within specification. In a preferredembodiment of the invention, the wheel aligner also guides thetechnician in making the actual adjustment, for example by providing avoice audio message identifying the vehicle component requiringadjustment and instructing the technician in how to effect theadjustment. In addition, the wheel aligner may also generate appropriateinstructions to guide the technician through the alignment measurementprocedure.

In another embodiment of the invention, a telephone module 76 isconnected to speech processor module 58. Telephone module 76 is aconventional PBX telephone system and allows the technician to make orreceive telephone calls and pages through headset 14. In thisembodiment, speech processor module 58 comprises means, such ashard-wired circuitry or software, to switch between telephone module 76and system bus 52 in response to a voice command from the technician,for example when the technician wishes to make a call or page, or asignal from telephone module 76, for example when an incoming call isbeing received by telephone module 76. When incoming call is beingreceived, the switching means preferably enables the technician toeither accept or refuse the call, depending on which voice command thetechnician uses.

The control system of the present invention may also include a securitysystem for permitting selective access to the system by only authorizedtechnicians. The security system may be, for example, a program residentin speech processor module 58 which will allow only those persons whoprovide a predetermined verbal password to operate the system.Individual passwords may be required for different technicians and thepasswords may be categorized to allow certain technicians to operateonly certain items of automotive service equipment. This can prevent atechnician from using a certain item of equipment before he has had therequisite training necessary to adequately operate the equipment.

The following is an example of the operation of a automotive servicesystem using the control system of the present invention, showing thesequence of commands relating to a vehicle wheel alignment.

Technician: (Starts by turning on the console).

System: “HELLO, GIVE YOUR NAME AND ADDRESS FOR IDENTIFICATION.”

Technician: (Responds with name and address).

System: “YOU ARE IDENTIFIED. IF AT ANY TIME YOU WISH TO HAVE ME REPEATAN INSTRUCTION SAY, ‘REPEAT LAST INSTRUCTION’. YOUR FIRST OPTIONS ARE:‘BEGIN ALIGNMEENT’, ‘SET UP’, ‘LIBRARY’, ‘FILES’, AND ‘OTHER’. CHOOSEONE.”

Technician: “BEGIN ALIGNMENT.”

System: “STATE IF THIS IS A NEW ALIGNMENT OR A CONTINUATION.”

Technician: “NEW ALIGNMENT.”

System: “YOUR OPTIONS ARE: ‘4 WHEEL’, ‘FRONT WHEEL’, ‘QUICK READINGS’,OR ‘DRIVER COMPLAINTS’. CHOOSE ONE.”

Technician: “4 WHEEL.”

System: “INSTALL VEHICLE ON LIFT AND MEASUREMENT HEADS ON WHEELS. LIFTCOMMAND OPTIONS ARE: ‘RAISE’, ‘STOP’, AND ‘LOWER’. STATE THE WORD ‘LIFT’BEFORE ‘RAISE’ OR ‘LOWER’. JACK COMMANDS ARE: ‘UP’, ‘DOWN’, AND ‘STOP’.STATE THE WORDS ‘FRONT JACK’ OR ‘REAR JACK’ BEFORE ‘UP’ OR ‘DOWN’. SAY‘RESUME ALIGNMENT’ WHEN READY TO CONTINUE ALIGNMENT. YOU MAY PROCEEDNOW.”

Technician: “LIFT, RAISE. STOP. (Installs heads). RESUME ALIGNMENT.”

System: “STATE VEHICLE MAKE.”

Technician: “FORD.”

System: “STATE VEHICLE YEAR.”

Technician: “93.”

System: “STATE VEHICLE MODEL.”

Technician: “T-BIRD.”

System: “I HAVE NO MATCH. TRY AGAIN; STATE VEHICLE MODEL.”

Technician: “THUNDERBIRD.”

System: “RAISE VEHICLE ON JACKS TO PERFORM RUNOUT. START AT ANY HEADWITH WHEEL CLAMP LOCKING KNOB IN THE 9 O'CLOCK POSITION AND STATE WHICHHEAD, FOR EXAMPLE ‘RIGHT FRONT HEAD’.”

Technician: “FRONT JACK, UP. STOP. REAR JACK, UP. STOP. (Moves clamp soknob is at 9 O'clock). RIGHT FRONT HEAD.”

System: “9 O'CLOCK ACCEPTED. GO TO 3 O'CLOCK POSITION.”

Technician: (Moves clamp so knob is at 3 O'clock).

System: “3 O'CLOCK ACCEPTED. GO TO 12 O'CLOCK POSITION.”

Technician: (Moves clamp so knob is at 12 O'clock).

System: “RUNOUT TAKEN FOR RIGHT FRONT WHEEL. PROCEED TO NEXT WHEEL.”

Technician: (Repeats procedure on remaining heads).

System: “RUNOUT PROCEDURE COMPLETE. LOWER WHEELS SO THEY ARE CENTERED ONTHE TURN PLATES AND SLIP PLATES, BUT FIRST BE SURE THE LOCKING PINS AREREMOVED FROM ALL PLATES. JOUNCE THE VEHICLE ON ITS SUSPENSION WHEN DOWNON PLATES. THEN STATE, ‘RESUME ALIGNMENT’. YOU MAY PROCEED NOW.”

Technician: “REAR JACK, DOWN. STOP. FRONT JACK, DOWN. STOP. (Jouncesvehicle to settle suspension). RESUME ALIGNMENT.”

System: “INSTALL PEDAL DEPRESSOR AND SAY ‘INSTALLED’.”

Technician: (Installs depressor). “INSTALLED.”

System: “LEVEL AND LOCK ALL HEADS AND SAY, ‘LEVELED AND LOCKED’.”

Technician: (Levels and locks all 4 heads). “LEVELED AND LOCKED.”

System: “LEFT REAR HEAD IS NOT LEVEL. LEVEL AND LOCK IT AND SAY,‘LEVELED AND LOCKED’.”

Technician: (Levels and locks left rear head). “LEVELED AND LOCKED.”

System: “CENTER FRONT WHEELS BY TURNING WHEELS SLOWLY TO THE RIGHT UNTILI SAY, ‘STOP’.”

Technician: (Turns wheels right slowly).

System: “STOP. TURN FRONT WHEELS SLOWLY LEFT FOR 10 DEGREES UNTIL I SAY,‘STOP’.”

Technician: (Turns front wheels left slowly).

System: “Stop. TURN FURTHER LEFT SLOWLY.”

Technician: (Turns further left slowly).

System: “STOP. TURN FRONT WHEELS SLOWLY RIGHT FOR 10 DEGREES UNTIL ISAY, ‘STOP’.”

Technician: (Turns front wheels right slowly).

System: “STOP. TURN FURTHER RIGHT SLOWLY”

Technician: (Turns further right slowly).

System: “STOP. CENTER FRONT WHEELS BY TURNING LEFT SLOWLY.”

Technician: (Turns front wheels left slowly).

System: “STOP. TO CONTINUE, RAISE THE LIFT SO YOU CAN WORK STANDINGUNDER THE VEHICLE. SAY ‘RESUME ALIGNMENT’ WHEN READY.”

Technician: “LIFT, RAISE. STOP. RESUME ALIGNMENT.”

System: “CONTINUE ALIGNMENT BY ADJUSTING LEFT REAR WHEEL FOR CAMBER BYLOOSENING THE UPPER CONTROL INNER PIVOT RETAINING BOLT, THEN ROTATE THEECCENTRIC BOLT SLOWLY COUNTER-CLOCKWISE UNTIL I SAY, STOP’.”

Technician: (Loosens pivot retaining bolt and rotates the eccentricCCW).

System: “STOP. NOW RE-TIGHTEN THE INNER PIVOT RETAINING BOLT AND SAY,‘BOLT TIGHT’.”

Technician: (Re-tightens bolt). “BOLT TIGHT.”

System: “CAMBER SETTING IS NOW MINUS 0.63 DEGREES ON LEFT REAR WHEEL ANDWITHIN SPECIFICATION, REQUIRING NO FURTHER ADJUSTMENT. CAMBER SETTINGFOR RIGHT REAR WHEEL IS MINUS 0.24 DEGREES AND WITHIN SPECIFICATION,REQUIRING NO ADJUSTMENT FOR CAMBER. REAR WHEELS NEED ADJUSTMENT IN TOE,SO ON THE RIGHT REAR WHEEL LOOSEN THE LOWER CONTROL ARM INNER PIVOTRETAINING BOLT AND ROTATE CAM BOLT CLOCKWISE UNTIL I SAY ‘STOP’.”

Technician: (Makes adjustment).

System: “STOP. RE-TIGHTEN PIVOT BOLT AND SAY, ‘BOLT TIGHT’.”

Technician: (Re-tightens pivot bolt). “BOLT TIGHT.”

System: “ON THE LEFT REAR WHEEL, LOOSEN THE LOWER CONTROL ARM INNERPIVOT RETAINING BOLT AND ROTATE CAM BOLT COUNTER-CLOCKWISE UNTIL I SAY‘STOP’.”

Technician: (Makes adjustment)

System: “STOP. RE-TIGHTEN PIVOT BOLT AND SAY, ‘BOLT TIGHT’.”

Technician: (Re-tightens pivot bolt). “BOLT TIGHT.”

System: “TOE ON REAR WHEELS IS NOW POSITIVE ⅛ INCH AND WITHINSPECIFICATION AND REQUIRES NO FURTHER ADJUSTMENT. LOWER THE LIFT ANDSTART VEHICLE ENGINE AND WITH ENGINE RUNNING STEER THE STEERING WHEEL TOTHE LEVEL POSITION. INSTALL THE STEERING WHEEL CLAMP TO HOLD THESTEERING WHEEL IN THE LEVEL POSITION. STOP THE ENGINE AND RAISE THE LIFTSO YOU CAN WORK STANDING UNDER THE VEHICLE. SAY, ‘RESUME ALIGNMENT’ WHENREADY. YOU MAY PROCEED NOW.”

Technician: “LIFT, LOWER. STOP.” (Starts engine, levels steering wheel,and stops engine). “LIFT, RAISE. STOP. RESUME ALIGNMENT.”

System: “THE LEFT FRONT WHEEL IS OUT OF SPECIFICATION IN CASTER ANDSHOULD BE ADJUSTED. LOOSEN THE INSIDE STRUT ROD BUSHING RETAINER NUT 2AND ½ TURNS AND TIGHTEN THE OUTER STRUT ROD BUSHING RETAINER NUT UNTILIT IS TIGHT. THEN SAY, NUT TIGHT’.”

Technician: (Makes adjustment). “NUT TIGHT.”

System: “THE LEFT FRONT WHEEL IS NOW POSITIVE 5.98 DEGREES IN CASTER ANDIS WITHIN SPECIFICATION AND REQUIRES NO FURTHER ADJUSTMENT IN CASTER.THE LEFT FRONT WHEEL IS OUT OF ADJUSTMENT IN CAMBER AND SHOULD BEADJUSTED. LOOSEN LOWER CONTROL ARM PIVOT RETAINING BOLT AND ROTATE CAMBOLT INWARD SLOWLY UNTIL I SAY, ‘STOP’.”

Technician: (Makes adjustment).

System: “STOP. NOW RE-TIGHTEN PIVOT RETAINING BOLT AND SAY, ‘BOLTTIGHT’.”

Technician: (Tightens pivot retaining bolt). “BOLT TIGHT.”

System: “THE LEFT FRONT WHEEL IS NOW MINUS 1.05 DEGREES IN CAMBER ANDWITHIN SPECIFICATION AND REQUIRES NO FURTHER ADJUSTMENT. THE RIGHT FRONTWHEEL IS WITHIN SPECIFICATION ON CASTER AND CAMBER AND REQUIRES NOADJUSTMENT OF THESE. THE TOE OF THE FRONT WHEELS IS OUT OF SPECIFICATIONAND SHOULD BE ADJUSTED. LOOSEN THE TIE ROD RETAINING JAM NUT ON THERIGHT FRONT WHEEL TIE ROD AND ROTATE THE TIE ROD SLOWLY TO SHORTEN ITUNTIL I SAY, ‘STOP’.

Technician: (Loosens nut and starts the tie rod rotation in thedirection that would lengthen the adjustment).

System: “STOP. WRONG DIRECTION. ROTATE IN THE OTHER DIRECTION.”

Technician: (Rotates tie rod in the opposite direction).

System: “STOP. NOW RE-TIGHTEN THE JAM NUT AND SAY, ‘NUT TIGHT’.”

Technician: (Tightens the nut). “NUT TIGHT.”

System: “LOOSEN THE TIE ROD RETAINING JAM NUT ON THE LEFT FRONT WHEELTIE ROD AND ROTATE THE TIE ROD SLOWLY TO SHORTEN IT UNTIL I SAY,‘STOP’.”

Technician: (Loosens nut and rotates the tie rod).

System: “STOP. RE-TIGHTEN THE JAM NUT AND SAY, ‘NUT TIGHT’.”

Technician: (Tightens nut). “NUT TIGHT.”

System: “TOE IS NOW ZERO AND WITHIN SPECIFICATION AND REQUIRES NOFURTHER ADJUSTMENT. YOU MAY LOWER LIFT AND REMOVE HEADS FROM THE WHEELS.ALIGNMENT IS COMPLETE.”

Technician: “LIFT, LOWER.” (Removes and stows heads).

It should be recognized that, while the present invention has beendescribed in relation to the preferred embodiments thereof, thoseskilled in the art may develop a wide variation of structural detailswithout departing from the principles of the invention. Therefore, theappended claims are to be construed to cover all equivalents fallingwithin the true scope and spirit of the invention.

What is claimed is:
 1. In combination with a vehicle wheel alignmentsystem having a processor for controlling the operation of the system: asound to signal transducer; a converter configured for converting voicecommands received by the sound to signal transducer into operationinstructions which can be processed by the processor to control theoperation of a component of the wheel alignment system through voicecommands.
 2. The system of claim 1, wherein the sound to signaltransducer comprises a microphone mounted in a device which can be wornby the technician.
 3. A vehicle wheel alignment system having aprocessor for controlling the operation of the system, which comprises:means in communication with the processor for producing data indicativeof the operational steps required to make an adjustment to a vehiclecomponent; means for converting the data into electrical voice audiosignals indicative of spoken procedural instructions that vocally guidean operator to perform the adjustment; a signal to sound transducer forconverting the electrical voice audio signals into voice audio messagesthat comprise spoken procedural instructions that vocally guide anoperator to perform the adjustment; a sound to signal transducer; andmeans for converting voice commands received by the sound to signaltransducer into operation instructions which can be processed by theprocessor to control the operation of a component of the wheel alignmentsystem through voice commands.
 4. The system of claim 3, furthercomprising transceiver means for relaying communications between thedata converting means and the signal to sound transducer and between thesound to signal transducer and the voice command converting means.
 5. Incombination with a vehicle wheel alignment system having a processor forcontrolling the operation of at least one component of the wheelalignment system, the improvement which comprises: a sound to signaltransducer; means for converting voice commands received by the sound tosignal transducer into operation instructions for controlling operationof the at least one component of the wheel alignment system, whichinstructions can be processed by the processor; a wearable display forvisually displaying data received from the processor including means forimaging of the data into a forward field of view of the technician;whereby a technician can control the operation of the at least onecomponent of the wheel alignment system through voice commands andreceive data therefrom via the wearable display.
 6. The system of claim5, further comprising means for transmitting data from the controller tothe wearable display.
 7. A vehicle wheel aligner for guiding an operatorin making adjustments to a vehicle in order to bring an alignmentmeasurement of the vehicle to within a known specification, whichcomprises: at least one angle measuring instrument mountable relative toat least one wheel of the vehicle for generating signals representativeof the relative angular orientation of the at least one wheel;controller means for determining the alignment measurement from thesignals generated by the at least one angle measuring instrument and forproducing data indicative of a difference between the alignmentmeasurement and the known specification; means responsive to the datafrom the controller means for generating electrical voice audio signalsindicative of the difference between the alignment measurement and theknown specification and further indicative of spoken proceduralinstructions that vocally guide an operator to perform the adjustment;and a signal to sound transducer for converting the electrical voiceaudio signals into audible voice audio messages that comprise spokenprocedural instructions that vocally guide an operator to perform theadjustment; wherein the wheel aligner generates voice audio messagesindicative of the difference between the alignment measurement and thespecification to thereby guide the operator in making the adjustments tobring the alignment measurement to within specification.
 8. The wheelaligner of claim 7, wherein the controller means functions to controlthe operation of the wheel aligner and the wheel aligner furthercomprises: a sound to signal transducer; and means for converting voicecommands received by the sound to signal transducer into operationinstructions which can be processed by the controller means; whereby theoperator can control the operation of the wheel aligner through voicecommands.
 9. The wheel aligner of claim 8, further comprisingtransceiver means for relaying communications between the dataconverting means and the signal to sound transducer and between thesound to signal transducer and the voice command converting means. 10.The wheel aligner of claim 9, wherein the transceiver means compriseswireless transceiver means.
 11. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein thewireless transceiver means comprises a radio frequency transceiver. 12.The wheel aligner of claim 7, further comprising a wearable displaymeans for visually displaying the data produced by the controller means.13. In combination with a vehicle wheel alignment having a processor forcontrolling the operation of the system, the improvement whichcomprises: a sound to signal transducer; means for converting voicecommands received by the sound to signal transducer into operationinstructions for controlling operation of at least one component of thewheel alignment system, which instructions can be processed by theprocessor; and a wearable display for visually displaying data receivedfrom the processor; whereby a technician can control the operation ofthe wheel alignment system through voice commands and receive datatherefrom via the wearable display.
 14. The system of claim 13, furthercomprising means for transmitting data from the processor to thewearable display.